European stocks traded in green snapping its losing streak as banking stocks gained on strong results posted by BNP Paribas. As of writing this report, FTSE 100 was trading marginally higher by 0.45%.

All the major Asian indices closed in the negative territory. SGX Nifty closed 40 points lower.

US stock futures signal higher opening on the Wall Street ahead of jobless claim data and the European Central Bank’s (ECB) governing council meeting on interest rates.

Indian indices

The domestic market fell for the fourth straight session even after witnessing some bouts of recovery. The fears of Greece’ crisis that could spread among other euro zone countries and selling in heavyweights like Reliance Industries and Infosys Technologies led the market to extend its losses. An upbeat employment data in the US and easing food inflation back home (coming down at 16.4% from 16.61%) also did not help the market and it ended in red.

The 30-share bellwether opened 7 points lower at 17080 and this was also its day’s high. In the later session, the Sensex extended its losses and selling in heavyweights like Reliance Industries and Infosys Technologies further dragged the Sensex down to touch the day’s low of 16823. However, post lunch, as European markets erased its early losses and turned positive the Sensex recovered its weakness. The Sensex was unable to close above 17,000 levels and ended the day at 16987, 100 points lower. The Nifty also closed below 5100 levels at 5091, 34 points lower.

Health care stocks did well for the day, with BSE HC up by 1.40%. BSE PSU was second gainer in the sectoral list, advanced by 0.64%. Rest of the 11 sectors were down, with BSE TECk down by 1.04%, the most for any sector, followed by BSE CG that fell by 1.00%.

The top three gaining stocks were — Hindustan Copper (up by 7.69%), Suzlon Energy (up by 5.32%) and Ashok Leylend (up by 4.48%). The top three losing stocks were — Jindal steel (down by 4.46%), ABB (down by 3.99%) and Ambuja Cements (down by 3.69%).

Viewing volumes

Wind turbine major Suzlon Energy saw highest trading with over 1.50 crore shares changing hands on the BSE, followed by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group company Reliance Natural Resources (0.70 crore shares), industrial finance company IFCI (0.55 crore shares), infrastructure company GTL Infrastructure (0.51 crore shares) and one of the top gainer in ‘A’ group stocks Ashok Leylend (0.50 crore shares).

The key benchmark indices ended a choppy trading session lower as debt worries in the euro zone weighed on investors' sentiment. The barometer index BSE Sensex fell below the psychological 17,000 level after flirting with that level throughout the day. The Sensex shed 100.43 points or 0.59%, up close to 165 points from the day's low. FMCG and pharma stocks rose on defensive buying. But, realty, auto and IT stocks fell.

Banking stocks were mixed. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries edged lower. The market breadth was negative. European stocks turned positive and US index futures edged higher in volatile trade. The Sensex has lost 571.18 points or 3.25% in the past four trading sessions from a recent high of 17558.71 on 30 April 2010.

Volatility was high. The market cut losses after an initial slide triggered by weak global stocks. The market hit a fresh intraday low in morning trade. The market trimmed losses in mid-morning trade after hitting fresh intraday low. A steep slide took the Sensex to a fresh intraday low in early afternoon trade. Bargain hunting helped the key indices pare losses in afternoon trade. The intraday recovery gathered steam in mid-afternoon trade. But, the market weakened once again in late trade.

NSE's volatility index India VIX, a measure of traders' perception of near-term risks in the market based on options prices, rose 2.83% to 24.36. The volatility index rose for the fourth day in a row. India VIX is calculated based on the S&P CNX Nifty options prices. India VIX is a measure of the market's expectation of volatility over the next 30 calendar days.

Inflation based on food prices rose 16.04% in the year through 24 April 2010, slower than previous week's annual rise of 16.61%, the latest government data showed. Fuel prices inflation remained at elevated level. The fuel price index rose 12.69% in the year through 24 April 2010, same as a week ago. The primary articles index rose 13.93% in the year through 24 April 2010.

European shares reversed early losses on Thursday as the banking sector rebounded from earlier falls after strong results from BNP Paribas. The benchmark indices in UK, France and Germany were up by 0.2% to 0.58%.

European leaders warned on Wednesday that the euro zone debt crisis could spread beyond Greece, and Moody's Investors Service said Portugal could be next to have its debt downgraded.

A massive Greek bailout package announced on Sunday, 2 May 2010, failed to halt rising jitters about sovereign-debt problems along the euro zone's boundary. Euro-zone governments and the International Monetary Fund hoped that the $145.14 billion rescue package for Greece would soothe investors' nerves over high sovereign-debt levels in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland. Instead, it had the opposite effect, with fears that Greece's debt woes could spread to other countries. Investors are also concerned that the three-year financial package will not fix Greece's longer-term funding problems. The Greek parliament votes later on Thursday on whether to accept the package, and other euro-zone nations needs to ratify it as well

The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday held interest rates at 1% as anticipated by the market. The press conference of ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet in which he is likely to update on Europe's role in Greece's bailout will be closely watched.

Asian stocks slumped on Thursday on concern the Greek deficit crisis will spread through Europe and hurt the global economic recovery after Moody's Investors Service placed its credit rating for Portugal on a review for a possible downgrade. The key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan fell by between 0.72% to 3.27%. Miners led a steep slide in Chinese stocks as global commodity prices plunged. The Shanghai Composite index lost 4.11%.

US index futures were volatile. Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could rise 29 points at the opening bell on Thursday, 6 May 2010.

US stocks sagged on Wednesday as more signs emerged that the fallout from the Greek debt crisis could spread to bigger European economies. However, generally positive data on the US private sector job market and the economy's services sector cushioned the negative tone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 58.65 points, or 0.54% to 10,868.12. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 7.73 points, or 0.66% to 1,165.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 21.96 points, or 0.91% to 2,402.29.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak today at the Chicago Fed's 46th annual conference on bank structure and competition. The US weekly jobless claims data and April sales reports from chain stores is also due today.

Back home, the fourth quarter corporate results announced so far have been fairly encouraging. The combined net profit of a total of 1157 companies rose 29% to Rs 40690 crore on 30% rise in sales to Rs 374479 crore in the quarter ended March 2010 over the quarter ended March 2009.

Meanwhile, business at Indian service companies rebounded to a 21-month-high in April 2010 on new business and high input prices. The HSBC Markit Business Activity Index, based on a survey of 400 firms, rose to 62.1 in April, its highest since July 2008, and compared with 58.1 in March 2010.

A recent industry body report showed that business confidence in India improved on the back of economic recovery. The bi-annual Business Outlook Survey of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) showed that the Business Confidence Index (BCI) of the Indian industry increased by 1.5 points for the April-September 2010 period, compared to the past six months.

The Indian Meteorological department (IMD) expects normal rainfall in the June-September monsoon season this year. Rainfall is likely to be 98% of the long-term average, the IMD said on 23 April 2010. Good monsoon rains would help raise farm output, boost rural incomes and lower food inflation. The south west monsoon is important for India as about 60% of the country's farmlands are rain-fed and more than half of the workforce is employed in the agriculture sector. The quantum of rainfall in the crucial sowing month of July and distribution of rainfall during the monsoon season holds key.

The Reserve Bank of India expects India's economy to expand 8% in the year ending March 2011 (FY 2011) with an upward bias, assuming a normal monsoon this year and sustenance of good performance of the industrial and services sectors on the back of rising domestic and external demand.

The RBI at its annual policy review on 20 April 2010 said it will continue to monitor macroeconomic conditions, particularly the price situation closely and take further action as warranted. A 25 basis points hike in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) with effective from 24 April 2010 will suck out excess liquidity of Rs 12500 crore from the banking system.

In its half-yearly World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has pegged India's GDP growth at 8.75% in calendar 2010 and 8.5% in calendar 2011. According to the IMF, domestic demand in India will strengthen as the labour market improves, and investment is expected to be boosted by strong corporate profitability, rising business confidence and favourable financing conditions.

The BSE 30-share Sensex fell 100.43 points or 0.59% to 16,987.53. The index shed 0.49 points at the day's high of 17,080.47 in early trade. The Sensex lost 264.96 points at the day's low of 16,823.00 in early afternoon trade.

The S&P CNX Nifty declined 34.05 points or 0.66% to 5,090.85.

The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.5% and the BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.08%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1473 shares declined as compared to 1370 shares that advanced. A total of 97 shares remained unchanged. The breadth swung between positive and negative zone during the day.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 0.96%. RIL said 28 April 2010 it had discovered oil in one of its exploration blocks in the Cambay basin on India's western coast, the block in which it holds 100% controlling interest. This is its fourth oil discovery in the region.

The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce a judgement on the gas dispute between Reliance Industries (RIL) and Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) at 10:30 IST on Friday, 7 May 2010, according to television reports. The RIL-RNRL gas dispute has been heard by a three-member Supreme Court bench led by the Chief Justice of India. The tussle relates to supply of gas to Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) from the D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari eastern offshore fields of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL).

The dispute landed in the Supreme Court after seeing many twists and turns in lower courts. The two sides - RIL and RNRL had approached Supreme Court challenging a decision by the Bombay High Court. The Bombay High Court, in its order dated 15 June 2009 had directed that RNRL will get assured supply of 28 mmscmd of gas from RIL's Krishna-Godavari basin for 17 years at $2.34 per million British thermal units (mBtu). The gas price was 44.28% lower than the price fixed by the government for gas sale from the RIL block in the KG basin at $4.2 mBtu.

India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank fell 0.11% to Rs 902.70. The scrip was volatile. The stock hit a high of Rs 912.55 and a low of Rs 891.10. The Tayals, who control Bank of Rajasthan (BoR), have reportedly begun talks with large private sector banks including ICICI Bank for a possible merger.

Punjab National bank rose 0.05% reversing initial losses. Net profit rose 31.13% to Rs 1135.03 crore in Q4 March 2010 over Q4 March 2009. The state-run bank announced the result during market hours today.

India's largest mortgage lender by total income Housing Development Finance Corporation slipped 1.58%, with the stock falling for the second straight day. The company's board on 3 May 2010 approved a 5-for-1 stock-split.

Auto shares declined on fears the Reserve Bank of India may resort to further monetary tightening to counter soaring inflation. India's largest tractor maker by sales Mahindra & Mahindra fell 0.47%. The company's total vehicle sales rose 13% to 26,043 units in April 2010 over April 2009. The company announced the monthly sales data during trading hours on Monday, 3 May 2010.

India's largest small car maker by sales Maruti Suzuki India fell 0.23%. Total sales rose almost 30% to 93,058 units in April 2010 over April 2009. Domestic sales rose 23.4% to 80,034 units. The data was unveiled on 1 May 2010.

India's top truck maker by sales Tata Motors fell 2.52%, with the stock falling for the second straight day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 882.20 on 3 May 2010. Total sales including exports of commercial and passenger vehicles jumped 52% to 57,202 vehicles in April 2010 over April 2009. Domestic sales rose 49% to 54,065 units. Exports rose 148.8% to 3,137 units.

IT pivotals fell on lingering worries about sovereign debt issues in the euro zone. Europe is the second largest market for Indian IT firms. India's third largest software services exporter Wipro fell 1.66%. India's second largest software services exporter Infosys declined 1.03%. But, India's largest software services exporter TCS rose 0.11%, reversing early fall.

Some FMCG stocks rose on defensive buying. Hindustan Unilever, Marico and Dabur India rose by between 0.19% to 1.64%.

Pharma stocks also rose on defensive buying. Cipla, Ranbaxy Laboratories and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose by between 2.33% to 3.33%.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories rose 0.22% as net profit rose 62.1% to Rs 253.16 crore in Q4 March 2010 over Q4 March 2009. The company announced the result during market hours today.

India's largest dam builder by sales Jaiprakash Associates fell 0.04%, extending 4.67% decline on Wednesday. The initial public offer of its unit Jaypee Infratech got lukewarm response from investors and was subscribed 1.24 times. The bidding for the issue got over on Tuesday.

Weekly inflation to be announced todayEx-date for stock split and bonus issue of Engineers IndiaResults: Union Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Dr. ReddysFor more events, log on to Sharekhan.com

Pre-market report

Global signals

The European stocks closed lower on Wednesday, as sentiment was soured by the threat of a growing debt crisis in the euro zone, offsetting positive results from InBev and a rise in US private sector jobs.

The US stocks sagged on Wednesday as more signs emerged that the fallout from the Greek debt crisis could spread to bigger European economies.

In today's trade, the Asian markets were trading on a negative note. At the time of writing this report, SGX Nifty was trading 28.5 points lower.

Indian markets

The ongoing Greece’ debt crisis still sustains its threat across the global markets that it could spread and disturb the other European countries. In the US, investors were more concerned about Greece' debt crisis despite of good employment data. The Greece’ concern remains the same in the euro-zone, the Asian markets were trading sharply lower on the same issue and Japanese exporters were hit from the euro's weakness. Following the track of the global peers, the Indian markets are set to open on a negative note. We expect the market to remain volatile as the case in the previous last three sessions. Weekly inflation readings are to be announced later today.However, the earnings of Union Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Dr. Reddys Laboratories are later to be announced today — the stocks will be closely eyed by the investors.

Commodity cues

In the commodity space, the crude oil prices plunged Wednesday as a stronger dollar, fueled by widespread fear of Europe's sovereign debt woes, lessened the appeal of buying crude, with the Nymex light crude oil for the June series declined by $2.77 per barrel, whereas in the metals space, the Comex Gold for the June series increased by $6 and the Comex Silver for the June series was down by $0.31 to a troy ounce respectively.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

On May 05, 2010, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were the net buyers of the Indian stocks to the tune of Rs104.50 crore, whereas the domestic mutual funds, on April 30, 2010, were the net buyers of the stocks to the tune of Rs304.80 crore.

Crude oil ended substantially lower at Nymex on Wednesday, 05 May 2010. Prices fell in tandem with US equities. Prices also fell due to a strong dollar and as energy department reported a more than expected build up in crude inventories for last week.

On Wednesday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for June delivery closed at $79.97/barrel (lower by $2.77 or 3.4%). Yesterday crude registered the biggest drop in three months – both in dollar and percentage terms. Last week, crude ended higher by 1.2%. For the month of April, crude rose 2.8%. For the first quarter of this year, crude rose by 5.5%. Year to date, crude is higher by 1%.

Prices are very much lower as compared to 3 July, 2008 settlement of $145.29 a barrel and an intraday high of $147.27 on 11 July, 2008, an all-time high. However, oil has also gained nearly 150% from a December 2008 nadir. That day prices settled at $33.87 a barrel following an intraday low of $32.40.

A bailout package worth some $146 billion for Greece was announced over the weekend, but it was not enough to restore investors' confidence about the euro-zone countries and the euro and investors again sought gold as a hedge against currency fears. But Greece was rocked with a general strike today and Athens was rocked with riots which brought in more tension to the already troubled region.

In the currency market on Wednesday, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the dollar against basket of six other currencies rose by 0.9%. But the euro modestly moderated its losses against the dollar. The dollar is up some 7.6% for the year.

In the weekly inventory report, EIA said crude-oil inventories rose 2.8 million barrels in the week ended 30 April. It included a 1.7 million increase in inventories in Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for Nymex oil. Market had expected crude stocks to increase by 1.54 million barrels. The report also showed that gasoline stockpiles rose by 1.2 million when the expectation was of a modest rise of 200,000 barrels. Refineries operated at 89.6% of their operable capacity.

Among other energy products on Wednesday, gasoline for June delivery declined 10 cents, or 4.4%, to $2.22 a gallon, reverting to prices last seen in late March. Natural gas for June delivery retreated 2 cents, or 0.6%, to $3.99 per million British thermal units.

Crude ended FY 2009 higher by 78%, the highest yearly gain since 1999. It reached a high of $82 earlier in October 2009 and hit a low of $33.98 on 12 February 2009. Crude prices had ended FY 2008 lower by 54%, the largest yearly loss since trading began at Nymex.

At the MCX, crude oil for May delivery closed lower by Rs 112 (3%) at Rs 3,624/barrel. Natural gas for May delivery closed at Rs 179.5, lower by Rs 1.4 (0.8%).

The market may extend losses for the fourth straight day tracking weak global stocks which fell on worries Greece debt crisis could have a contagion effect. Trading in S&P CNX Nifty index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicate that the Nifty could fall 28.50 points at the opening bell. The government will unveil data on some wholesale price indices for the year through 24 April 2010 viz. the food price index, the primary articles index and the fuel price index at about 12:00 IST today.

Asian stocks slumped on Thursday on concern the Greek deficit crisis will spread through Europe and hurt the global economic recovery after Moody's Investors Service placed its credit rating for on a review for a possible downgrade. The key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan fell by between 0.36% to 3.15%.

US stocks sagged on Wednesday as more signs emerged that the fallout from the Greek debt crisis could spread to bigger European economies. However, generally positive data on the US private sector job market and the economy's services sector cushioned the negative tone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 58.65 points, or 0.54% to 10,868.12. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 7.73 points, or 0.66% to 1,165.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 21.96 points, or 0.91% to 2,402.29.

The European Central Bank (ECB) holds a regular policy meeting on interest rates today, 6 May 2010. Interest rates in the 16-member eurozone have now been on hold at an historic low of 1% for a year and many economists expect the ECB to leave borrowing costs unchanged till next year. The press conference of ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet in which he is likely to update on Europe's role in Greece's bailout will be closely watched.

European leaders warned on Wednesday that the euro zone debt crisis could spread beyond Greece, and Moody's Investors Service said Portugal could be next to have its debt downgraded.

A massive Greek bailout package announced on Sunday, 2 May 2010, failed to halt rising jitters about sovereign-debt problems along the euro zone's boundary. Euro-zone governments and the International Monetary Fund hoped that the $145.14 billion rescue package for Greece would soothe investors' nerves over high sovereign-debt levels in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland. Instead, it had the opposite effect, with fears that Greece's debt woes could spread to other countries. Investors are also concerned that the three-year financial package will not fix Greece's longer-term funding problems.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak today at the Chicago Fed's 46th annual conference on bank structure and competition. The US weekly jobless claims data and April sales reports from chain stores is also due today.

Back home, the fourth quarter corporate results announced so far have been fairly encouraging. The combined net profit of a total of 1126 companies rose 28.6% to Rs 38533 crore on 30.3% rise in sales to Rs 359503 crore in the quarter ended March 2010 over the quarter ended March 2009.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Punjab National Bank, Torrent Pharma, Union Bank of India, Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers among others will announce their January to March 2010 quarter result today.

Meanwhile, business at Indian service companies rebounded to a 21-month-high in April 2010 on new business and high input prices. The HSBC Markit Business Activity Index, based on a survey of 400 firms, rose to 62.1 in April, its highest since July 2008, and compared with 58.1 in March 2010.

A recent industry body report showed that business confidence in India improved on the back of economic recovery. The bi-annual Business Outlook Survey of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) showed that the Business Confidence Index (BCI) of the Indian industry increased by 1.5 points for the April-September 2010 period, compared to the past six months.

The Indian Meteorological department (IMD) expects normal rainfall in the June-September monsoon season this year. Rainfall is likely to be 98% of the long-term average, the IMD said on 23 April 2010. Good monsoon rains would help raise farm output, boost rural incomes and lower food inflation. The south west monsoon is important for India as about 60% of the country's farmlands are rain-fed and more than half of the workforce is employed in the agriculture sector. The quantum of rainfall in the crucial sowing month of July and distribution of rainfall during the monsoon season holds key.

The Reserve Bank of India expects India's economy to expand 8% in the year ending March 2011 (FY 2011) with an upward bias, assuming a normal monsoon this year and sustenance of good performance of the industrial and services sectors on the back of rising domestic and external demand.

The RBI at its annual policy review on 20 April 2010 said it will continue to monitor macroeconomic conditions, particularly the price situation closely and take further action as warranted. A 25 basis points hike in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) with effective from 24 April 2010 will suck out excess liquidity of Rs 12500 crore from the banking system.

In its half-yearly World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has pegged India's GDP growth at 8.75% in calendar 2010 and 8.5% in calendar 2011. According to the IMF, domestic demand in India will strengthen as the labour market improves, and investment is expected to be boosted by strong corporate profitability, rising business confidence and favourable financing conditions.

The key benchmark indices extended losses for the third straight day on Wednesday 5 May 2010 on continued worries over fiscal health of euro zone nations. The BSE 30-share Sensex fell 49.18 points or 0.29% to 17,087.96 on Wednesday.

Yellow metal regained some of its glaze as it pared early losses and ended modestly higher at Comex on Wednesday, 05 May 2010. Prices pared losses as US equities trimmed its losses and as euro stopped its decline against the dollar. However, silver prices tripped.

Generally, a stronger dollar pressures demand for dollar-denominated commodities, such as crude oil and gold, which become more expensive for holders of other currencies and also vice versa.

On Wednesday, gold for June delivery ended at $1,175 an ounce, higher by $5.8 (0.5%) an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the day, it had hit an intra day low of $1,156.2. Earlier in the week, gold had witnessed the highest level in five months. Gold for June delivery settled above $1,200 in early December, only to pull back to $1,172 area and dip as much as the $1,050 vicinity in early February. Last week, gold ended higher by 2.3%. For the month of April, gold ended higher by 6%. For the first quarter of this year, gold rose by 1.7%, its sixth quarterly rise. On a year to date basis, gold is higher by 7.2%.

On Wednesday, July Comex silver futures ended lower by $0.32 cents (1.7%) at $17.53 an ounce. Last week, silver ended higher by 2.4%. For the month of April, silver ended higher by 4.1%. For the first quarter of this year, silver rose by 3%. On a year to date basis, silver is higher by 1.1%.

A bailout package worth some $146 billion for Greece was announced over the weekend, but it was not enough to restore investors' confidence about the euro-zone countries and the euro and investors again sought gold as a hedge against currency fears. But Greece was rocked with a general strike today and Athens was rocked with riots.

In the currency market on Wednesday, the euro modestly moderated its losses against the dollar.

Gold trimmed its losses after US economic data hit the wires. The Institute for Supply Management reported on Wednesday, 05 April 2010 that growth in the U.S. service sector was flat in April, but activity remained at the highest rate in four years. As per the report, the ISM non-manufacturing index stayed at 55.4% in April against an expected reading of 56. Readings over 50% indicate more firms believe business is getting better instead of worse.

Gold had ended FY 2009 higher by 24%. Silver futures had ended 2009 up 50%. The dollar index had lost 4.2% against its counterparts last year.

Last year, after hitting a low at $807.30 per ounce on 15 January 2009, gold futures rallied almost 51% to hit an all-time high at $1217.40 per ounce during early December of 2009 but fell from those levels at the end. Silver futures had hit a low at $10.42 on 15 January 2009 and hit a high at $19.30 per ounce on 2 December 2009. Like gold, silver also ended lower than its all time high level.

At the MCX, gold prices for June delivery closed higher by Rs 126 (0.73%) at Rs 17,314 per ten grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 17,354 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 17,102 per 10 grams during the day's trading.

At the MCX, silver prices for July delivery closed Rs 302 (1%) lower at Rs 27,303/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 27,510/kg and fell to a low of Rs 26,740/Kg during the day's trading.

Indian markets staged a solid come back towards the closing hours of the trading session even as concerns persisted over the European debt crisis. The benchmark Indian indices ended near day's high, recovering smartly from their respective intra-day's lows. "The incredible recovery was led by short-covering in the last half an hour of trades", says Amar Ambani Vice President, Research IIFL.

As expected, the markets started off with a gap down as confidence went for a toss after the US stocks suffered their steepest drop in three months. Sentiment was hit badly amid mounting fears that Greece may not be able to avoid bankruptcy for long despite getting US$140bn aid.

Markets around the world are also worried that the debt contagion could spread to other debt-stricken southern European nations such as Spain and Portugal.

Finally, the BSE Sensex lost 49 points to end at 17,087 and NSE Nifty fell 24 points to close at 5,125. Among the 30 components of Sensex, 15 ended in the negative terrain and 15 ended in the green

Markets in Asia ended in the red; the Nikkei in Japan was closed for the third day in a row, Australia's S&P/ASX was down 1.3%, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 2.1% and Shanghai SE Composite also was closed.

On the other hand, European indices were trading in the green, the DAX in Germany was up 0.3%, the CAC 40 index in France was up 0.4% and the FTSE in the UK was up 0.3%.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, the BSE Metal index was top loser; the index lost 1%, followed by BSE Realty index down 1% and BSE Capital Goods index down 0.7%. However, the Mid-Cap index added 0.3% and the Small-cap index was down 0.3%.

In order to be happy, think of the ills you have been spared - Joseph Joubert.

Waiting on the sidelines may have spared many investors the wild swings of recent days. The Greek storm continues to rattle world markets. Risk appetite has tumbled and will take a while to recover. Public protests are mounting in Greece, stoking concerns whether it will be able to attain the proposed cuts in budget deficit. Other members of ‘PIIGS’ like Spain and Portugal are staring at further downgrades. The idea of EU as a unified, cohesive economic bloc and euro as its common currency has taken a beating. Let’s hope the crisis subsides sooner than later.

We expect some more trepidation at start today. Things might stabilize later, especially if global markets rebound. Global sentiment could improve if US monthly jobs data turns out to be strong. As of now, taking a decisive call is best postponed, though one may dabble with few counters for long-term purpose. Technically, the NSE Nifty has support at 5000 though a break below 200-day DMA of 4950 could potentially drag it down further. Resistance is seen around 5300.

US stocks recovered from session lows to end down amid what appears to be a worsening debt crisis in Southern Europe. Crude oil is hovering around $80 per barrel. The Dollar index is close to 84.

US Treasury yields touched their lowest in 2010. Rates reached the lowest since December, as worries about the financial state of the euro zone weigh on stocks and increase the appeal of US debt.

The euro hits its weakest level against the dollar since April 2009 while the FTSE All-World equity index fell 1.7% to a two-month low. The euro has dropped to a one-year low against the dollar, with the breach of the $1.30 level sparking concerns that global reserve managers would reassess their holdings of the single currency.

The extent of the losses on London’s equities market eased, but ongoing worries about the Greek debt crisis weighed on financial stocks. Fears that Greece may not be the only eurozone economy in need of bail-out cash send the region’s equity markets lower.

China’s benchmark stock index continues to fall and hit its lowest level in seven months as investors fretted about government measures to cool the property market and a flood of new bank shares coming to market.

Markets in Japan and South Korea are down sharply this morning. These markets shut yesterday. Japanese markets have been closed for 3-4 days. Other Asian markets are relatively better off.

The European Central Bank (ECB) will hold a meeting to review interest rates. Jean-Claude Trichet will be fighting for the credibility of the ECB as well as the euro as he faces questions over the institution’s decision to throw away collateral rules for Greek debt.

FIIs were net sellers of only Rs15.89bn in the cash segment on Wednesday on a provisional basis, according to NSE web site. Local institutions were net buyers of Rs6.91bn. In the F&O segment, the foreign funds were net buyers of Rs16.3bn. FIIs were net buyers of Rs1.04bn in the cash segment on Tuesday, as per the SEBI data.